Walking up Webster Ave. I heard a squawking cry above me, and looking up I saw a juvenile Cooper's Hawk way up in a tree. It had yelled because it really wasn't at all happy with me being there. It was even less happy when I stopped, pulled out my telephoto lens, and settled in for a photo shoot. It got even more vocal, and after about 5 minutes, when it became obvious that I was going to stay and shoot to my heart's content no matter how much it yelled at me, it flew off. This was the best shot of the lot.
Oddly enough, up the street and around the corner I came across this stone carving of an Osprey, also a hawk, on one of the gateposts at the head of the drive for one of Newport's famed mansions - Chateau sur Mer. Of course I've seen this countless times before, and I even have shots of it in my photo folders. But the irony of seeing this right after I'd seen a real, live hawk was just more than I could pass up!
We got some more snow yesterday. It started out heavy and wet, but later changed to the nice, light, fluffy stuff. Out walking today was definitely scenic, and one of the scenes that struck me was this fountain on the grounds of a (fairly expensive-looking) house on the corner of Bellevue and Ruggles Avenues. I liked how the patina-ed bronze contrasted with the earth tones of the stones, and how both in turn contrasted with the snow. and I really loved how the snow draped itself over the horizontal parts of the fountain.
And that was the non-statue part of my walk today. I hope you enjoyed the sights!
© 2009 by A. Roy Hilbinger
...wonderful shot of the Cooper's hawk. The blue is so intense, and I love the carving. It's nice when the familiar becomes spectacular simply through a new connection!
ReplyDeleteThe birds here already think it is spring, and are twittering about like mad in my downstairs neighbor's little plot...they know they are safe from hawks in downtown Los Angeles!
ReplyDeleteLovely pictures.
Thank you for following me. I am reciprocating as soon as I finish typing this sentence...
Heh,heh! Kelly. I was already lifting the camera to see if I could get a decent shot of the carving (the light was very harsh yesterday and shining full on the gatepost) when it dawned on me that I'd just done a photo shoot with a live hawk. At that point i cracked up.
ReplyDeleteMegan, thank you! And don't be too sure about how safe those little birdies are; lots of cities in the US have created colonies of Peregrine Falcons who nest on skyscraper ledges, all to keep pigeon populations under control. And New York city actually has a colony of Red-tailed Hawks in Central Park (did you ever see the PBS broadcast of the story of Pale Male?).
Great shot of that hawk. Interesting you also spotted the carving.
ReplyDeleteI'm following you!
wow what a capture of that cooper's hawk.
ReplyDeletewe have one in my (urban) neighborhood that likes to dine on the birds in my back yard!
nice find that little osprey....
I've seen exactly one osprey in the wild, at the Grand Tetons. Pure nobility...
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